Interstate trucking companies left off Connecticut's list

In the aftermath of a deadly wreck in Avon, CT, in July, Gov. M. Jodi
Rell ordered the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to list the 25 state
trucking companies with the worst safety records.

Now it seems that a misunderstanding may have led to thousands of
trucking companies being overlooked for that list.

The Hartford Courant reported that the department ignored companies that ship interstate freight –
but are based in Connecticut – because it thought the governor’s order applied
only to those companies that ship exclusively within the state.

Anthony Portanova, deputy director of the DMV, told The Courant his department made that
assumption because the company involved in the Avon wreck was an intrastate
company.

However, The Associated Press reported that Rell’s office maintains that it never said the DMV was to focus
solely on intrastate carriers.

“What we asked for were the 25 worst offenders,” said Rell spokesman,
Rich Harris. “We didn’t distinguish between interstate or intrastate.”

Harris went on to say that the list in its current form would serve
only as a starting point for safety investigations, and others may follow.